Pastor Kills Down Syndrome Daughter, Labels Her A Witch

By Stanley Ekpenyong, South South Bureau Chief

One Apostle Ubong Bassey, a resident of Calabar, the Cross River State Capital has been declared wanted by the State Police Command following his, alleged, murder of his 16-year-old daughter, Deborah, a Down Syndrome patient, over alleged witchcraft.

The tragic incident occurred on Saturday, February 15, 2025 at No. 7 Jacob Street, off Eyo Edem, in the Calabar South Local Government Area.

According to the late Deborah’s younger brother, Master Bassey, after committing the heinous crime, their father gathered the rest of them together and announced Deborah was no more.

Bassey said he had gone to open the door to the room where Deborah was locked up to help her dispose of her feces whereupon their father accosted  him and ordered the deceased to handle it herself, an instruction she complied with but fell on her way back to the room.

Bassey further narrated that he called for their father’s attention to the situation and when he entered the room, he  asked the rest of them to leave while he attended to her.

However, after  a prolonged period, Apostle Ubong called his children back into the room and announced that Deborah had passed away.

Reacting to the horrific death of her daughter, Deborah’s distraught mother, who had been estranged from Apostle Ubong, revealed that this was not the first instance of violence in the family.

She narrated a litany of physical abuses spanning years which eventually forced her to flee the home, lamenting that despite her efforts to protect her children, she was unable to save Deborah from this tragic fate.

“We have suffered severe physical abuse, leading to my running away,” she said. “I never gave up the struggle to liberate my children, but now my daughter is gone. I call on well-meaning Nigerians to ensure that Deborah gets justice.”

Meanwhile, several human rights and civil society organisations, including Women Arise, UNICAL, Project Alert, Etinosa Yvonne, Gary Foxcroft, Basic Rights Counsel Initiative, Safe Child Africa etc have waded into the the matter, offering support to the family while the police continue investigation and manhunt for the fleeing Apostle.